University of Chicago Press: New Titles from 'Seagull Books'http://www.press.uchicago.edu/ucp/rss/books/pu3431381_3431382RSS.xml
The latest new books from 'Seagull Books'en-usFri, 09 Dec 2016 06:00:00 GMT1440Jagadambahttp://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/J/bo25017971.html
While Mahatma Gandhi is hailed across the world as a champion of humanity and nonviolent struggle, the struggles of the woman who accompanied him closely all his life, his wife Kasturba Gandhi, remain untold. This playtext, Jagadamba, rights that wrong with a long monologue in which Kasturba speaks from her heart about the different facets of her life—an often difficult marriage, the great man’s selfless immersion in politics and its consequences for their family, their troubled sons, and, most importantly, her own desires and hopes.
Originally conceived in the Marathi language for actress Rohini Hattangadi, who received an Academy Award nomination for her portrayal of Kasturba in Richard Attenborough’s classic biopic Gandhi, this play charts the journey of a simple girl who went on to become “Jagadamba,” or the “Universal Mother,” as the wife of the Mahatma.
As Shanta Ghokale writes in her introduction: “Wives of great men have hard lives, often lived in negation of values they hold most dear. Jagadamba is the personal feelings of a devoted wife who had held her own in a life made mentally, physically, and morally turbulent by her husband’s ideas and political work.”<p>While Mahatma Gandhi is hailed across the world as a champion of humanity and nonviolent struggle, the struggles of the woman who accompanied him closely all his life, his wife Kasturba Gandhi, remain untold. This playtext, <em>Jagadamba</em>, rights that wrong with a long monologue in which Kasturba speaks from her heart about the different facets of her life&mdash;an often difficult marriage, the great man&rsquo;s selfless immersion in politics and its consequences for their family, their troubled sons, and, most importantly, her own desires and hopes.<br />
<br />
Originally conceived in the Marathi language for actress Rohini Hattangadi, who received an Academy Award nomination for her portrayal of Kasturba in Richard Attenborough&rsquo;s classic biopic <em>Gandhi</em>, this play charts the journey of a simple girl who went on to become &ldquo;Jagadamba,&rdquo; or the &ldquo;Universal Mother,&rdquo; as the wife of the Mahatma.<br />
<br />
As Shanta Ghokale writes in her introduction: &ldquo;Wives of great men have hard lives, often lived in negation of values they hold most dear. <em>Jagadamba</em> is the personal feelings of a devoted wife who had held her own in a life made mentally, physically, and morally turbulent by her husband&rsquo;s ideas and political work.&rdquo;</p>Art: Art--General StudiesTue, 15 Nov 2016 06:00:00 GMTRamdas Bhatkal; Yashodhara Deshpande Maitra; Shanta Ghokale9780857422972Goat Dayshttp://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/G/bo25017640.html
In the southern Indian state of Kerala, Najeeb’s dearest wish is to work in a Persian Gulf country and earn enough money to send some back home. One day, he finally achieves this dream, only to be propelled by a series of incidents—grim and absurd—into a slave-like existence, herding goats in the middle of the Saudi desert. Memories of his loving family and of the lush, verdant landscape of his village haunt Najeeb, whose only solace is the companionship of goats. In the end, the lonely young man is forced to contrive a hazardous scheme to escape his desert prison.
An instant bestseller in India, Goat Days is available for the first time in English, translated by Joseph Koyippally. Benyamin is a brilliant new talent of Malayalam literature and his wry and tender telling transforms the strange and bitter comedy of Najeeb’s life in the desert into a universal tale of loneliness and alienation.<p>In the southern Indian state of Kerala, Najeeb&rsquo;s dearest wish is to work in a Persian Gulf country and earn enough money to send some back home. One day, he finally achieves this dream, only to be propelled by a series of incidents&mdash;grim and absurd&mdash;into a slave-like existence, herding goats in the middle of the Saudi desert. Memories of his loving family and of the lush, verdant landscape of his village haunt Najeeb, whose only solace is the companionship of goats. In the end, the lonely young man is forced to contrive a hazardous scheme to escape his desert prison.<br />
<br />
An instant bestseller in India, <em>Goat Days</em> is available for the first time in English, translated by Joseph Koyippally. Benyamin is a brilliant new talent of Malayalam literature and his wry and tender telling transforms the strange and bitter comedy of Najeeb&rsquo;s life in the desert into a universal tale of loneliness and alienation.</p>Literature and Literary Criticism: FictionTue, 15 Nov 2016 06:00:00 GMTBenyamin Benyamin; Joseph Koyippally9780857423955World Saved by Kidshttp://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/W/bo25015883.html
First published in Italian in 1968, The World Saved by Kids was written in the aftermath of deep personal change and in the context of what Elsa Morante called the “great youth movement exploding against the funereal machinations of the organized contemporary world.” Morante believed that it was only the youth who could truly hear her revolutionary call. With the fiftieth anniversary of the tumultuous events of 1968 approaching, there couldn’t be a more timely moment for this first English translation of Morante’s work to appear.
Greeted by Antonio Porta as one of the most important books of its decade, The World Saved by Kids showcases Morante’s true mastery of tone, rhythm, and imagery as she works elegy, parody, storytelling, song, and more into an act of linguistic magic through which Gramsci and Rimbaud, Christ and Antigone, Mozart and Simone Weil, and a host of other figures join the sassy, vulnerable neighborhood kids in a renewal of the word’s timeless, revolutionary power to explore and celebrate life’s insoluble paradox.
Morante gained international recognition and critical acclaim for her novels History, Arturo’s Island, and Aracoeli, and The World Saved By Kids may be her best book and the one that most closely represents her spirit.<p>First published in Italian in 1968, <em>The World Saved by Kids</em> was written in the aftermath of deep personal change and in the context of what Elsa Morante called the &ldquo;great youth movement exploding against the funereal machinations of the organized contemporary world.&rdquo; Morante believed that it was only the youth who could truly hear her revolutionary call. With the fiftieth anniversary of the tumultuous events of 1968 approaching, there couldn&rsquo;t be a more timely moment for this first English translation of Morante&rsquo;s work to appear.<br />
<br />
Greeted by Antonio Porta as one of the most important books of its decade, <em>The World Saved by Kids</em> showcases Morante&rsquo;s true mastery of tone, rhythm, and imagery as she works elegy, parody, storytelling, song, and more into an act of linguistic magic through which Gramsci and Rimbaud, Christ and Antigone, Mozart and Simone Weil, and a host of other figures join the sassy, vulnerable neighborhood kids in a renewal of the word&rsquo;s timeless, revolutionary power to explore and celebrate life&rsquo;s insoluble paradox.<br />
<br />
Morante gained international recognition and critical acclaim for her novels <em>History</em>, <em>Arturo</em><em>&rsquo;</em><em>s Island</em>, and <em>Aracoeli</em>, and <em>The World Saved By Kids</em> may be her best book and the one that most closely represents her spirit.</p>Literature and Literary Criticism: PoetryTue, 15 Nov 2016 06:00:00 GMTElsa Morante; Cristina Viti9780857423795Death of Sheherzadhttp://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/D/bo25017430.html
A man scours the town he left fifty years ago for some modest evidence of past joys. Javed, who has returned to Lahore from East Pakistan, won’t speak of what he witnessed in his time away. In her dreams, an old woman boards a train full of dead ancestors. A sage who cannot control his anger must seek out a butcher for redemption. Mahaban, once the home of monkeys, is now a city filled with human beings. Sheherzad, who once told Emperor Shaharyar one thousand and one stories, is now an old woman who has forgotten her fantastical yarns.
The fifteen stories in The Death of Sheherzad ably represent Intizar Husain’s oeuvre, defying narrative tradition and exploring the past, specifically the Partition of India, as a means of unraveling the present. He imaginatively revisits a syncretic, tolerant, pluralistic past to analyze why the tide turned so irreversibly. Questioning everything—faith, violence, society—Husain probes the horrors of Partition in a manner as oblique as it is trenchant. Imbued with dark wit and literary brilliance, these stories at once shock, agitate, and entertain.<p>A man scours the town he left fifty years ago for some modest evidence of past joys. Javed, who has returned to Lahore from East Pakistan, won&rsquo;t speak of what he witnessed in his time away. In her dreams, an old woman boards a train full of dead ancestors. A sage who cannot control his anger must seek out a butcher for redemption. Mahaban, once the home of monkeys, is now a city filled with human beings. Sheherzad, who once told Emperor Shaharyar one thousand and one stories, is now an old woman who has forgotten her fantastical yarns.<br />
<br />
The fifteen stories in <em>The Death of Sheherzad</em> ably represent Intizar Husain&rsquo;s oeuvre, defying narrative tradition and exploring the past, specifically the Partition of India, as a means of unraveling the present. He imaginatively revisits a syncretic, tolerant, pluralistic past to analyze why the tide turned so irreversibly. Questioning everything&mdash;faith, violence, society&mdash;Husain probes the horrors of Partition in a manner as oblique as it is trenchant. Imbued with dark wit and literary brilliance, these stories at once shock, agitate, and entertain.</p>Tue, 15 Nov 2016 06:00:00 GMTIntizar Husain; Rakshanda Jalil9780857423931Empty Spacehttp://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/E/bo25017535.html
When a bomb explodes in a university cafe, nineteen students are killed. The Empty Space begins with the identification of these slain students. Slowly, each individual is claimed and taken away for a proper burial by their mourning family members. The final mother to enter the cafe identifies the nineteenth body as her eighteen-year-old son and brings him home in a casket. She not only brings home her dead son, though, but also the sole survivor of the blast, a three-year-old boy. By a strange quirk of fate, after the explosion he is found lying in a small empty space, alive and breathing. The Empty Space chronicles the memories of the boy dead, the story of the boy brought home, and the cataclysmic crossing of life and death.<p>When a bomb explodes in a university cafe, nineteen students are killed. <em>The Empty Space</em> begins with the identification of these slain students. Slowly, each individual is claimed and taken away for a proper burial by their mourning family members. The final mother to enter the cafe identifies the nineteenth body as her eighteen-year-old son and brings him home in a casket. She not only brings home her dead son, though, but also the sole survivor of the blast, a three-year-old boy. By a strange quirk of fate, after the explosion he is found lying in a small empty space, alive and breathing. <em>The Empty Space</em> chronicles the memories of the boy dead, the story of the boy brought home, and the cataclysmic crossing of life and death.</p>Literature and Literary Criticism: FictionTue, 15 Nov 2016 06:00:00 GMTGeetanjali Shree; Nivedita Menon9780857423948Feverhttp://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/F/bo25017749.html
Ruhiton Kurmi has been in jail for seven years. Once a notorious Naxalite—a militant leftist revolutionary—he is now a withered shell; a man broken by police torture, racked with fevers and sores. The only way he can endure his life is by shutting out the past. But when Ruhiton is moved to a better jail and eventually freed, memories return to haunt him.
Ruhiton inevitably looks back upon his youth, his marriage, his home in the Himalayan foothills—and he remembers, too, the friends he has killed, the revolutionary colleagues he worked with, and the ideals he once believed in. Dark, powerful, and full of ambiguities, the classic novel Fever, originally written in Bengali in 1977, questions the human cost of revolution and its inevitable transience. A sensation in its time, it remains one of the greatest novels about the Naxalite movement. Fever is an intense look at the universality of militancy, violence, and civil war, and the power of revolutionary ideals to seduce young minds.<p>Ruhiton Kurmi has been in jail for seven years. Once a notorious Naxalite&mdash;a militant leftist revolutionary&mdash;he is now a withered shell; a man broken by police torture, racked with fevers and sores. The only way he can endure his life is by shutting out the past. But when Ruhiton is moved to a better jail and eventually freed, memories return to haunt him.<br />
<br />
Ruhiton inevitably looks back upon his youth, his marriage, his home in the Himalayan foothills&mdash;and he remembers, too, the friends he has killed, the revolutionary colleagues he worked with, and the ideals he once believed in. Dark, powerful, and full of ambiguities, the classic novel <em>Fever</em>, originally written in Bengali in 1977, questions the human cost of revolution and its inevitable transience. A sensation in its time, it remains one of the greatest novels about the Naxalite movement. <em>Fever</em> is an intense look at the universality of militancy, violence, and civil war, and the power of revolutionary ideals to seduce young minds.</p>Literature and Literary Criticism: FictionTue, 15 Nov 2016 06:00:00 GMTSamaresh Basu; Arunava Sinha9780857423962Fate of Rural Hellhttp://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/F/bo13217566.html
In 1975, when political scientist Benedict Anderson reached Wat Phai Rong Wua, a massive temple complex in rural Thailand conceived by Buddhist monk Luang Phor Khom, he felt he had wandered into a demented Disneyland. One of the world’s most bizarre tourist attractions, Wat Phai Rong Wua was designed as a cautionary museum of sorts; its gruesome statues depict violent and torturous scenes that showcase what hell may be like. Over the next few decades, Anderson, who is best known for his work, Imagined Communities, found himself transfixed by this unusual amalgamation of objects, returning several times to see attractions like the largest metal-cast Buddha figure in the world and the Palace of a Hundred Spires. The concrete statuaries and perverse art in Luang Phor’s personal museum of hell included, “side by side, an upright human skeleton in a glass cabinet and a life-size replica of Michelangelo’s gigantic nude David, wearing fashionable red underpants from the top of which poked part of a swollen, un-Florentine penis,” alongside dozens of statues of evildoers being ferociously punished in their afterlife.
&nbsp;
In The Fate of Rural Hell, Anderson unravels the intrigue of this strange setting, endeavoring to discover what compels so many Thai visitors to travel to this popular spectacle and what order, if any, inspired its creation. At the same time, he notes in Wat Phai Rong Wua the unexpected effects of the gradual advance of capitalism into the far reaches of rural Asia.
&nbsp;
Both a one-of-a-kind travelogue and a penetrating look at the community that sustains it, The Fate of Rural Hell is sure to intrigue and inspire conversation as much as Wat Phai Rong Wua itself.<p>In 1975, when political scientist Benedict Anderson reached Wat Phai Rong Wua, a massive temple complex in rural Thailand conceived by Buddhist monk Luang Phor Khom, he felt he had wandered into a demented Disneyland. One of the world&rsquo;s most bizarre tourist attractions, Wat Phai Rong Wua was designed as a cautionary museum of sorts; its gruesome statues depict violent and torturous scenes that showcase what hell may be like. Over the next few decades, Anderson, who is best known for his work, <em>Imagined Communities</em>, found himself transfixed by this unusual amalgamation of objects, returning several times to see attractions like the largest metal-cast Buddha figure in the world and the Palace of a Hundred Spires. The concrete statuaries and perverse art in Luang Phor&rsquo;s personal museum of hell included, &ldquo;side by side, an upright human skeleton in a glass cabinet and a life-size replica of Michelangelo&rsquo;s gigantic nude David, wearing fashionable red underpants from the top of which poked part of a swollen, un-Florentine penis,&rdquo; alongside dozens of statues of evildoers being ferociously punished in their afterlife.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>In <em>The Fate of Rural Hell</em>, Anderson unravels the intrigue of this strange setting, endeavoring to discover what compels so many Thai visitors to travel to this popular spectacle and what order, if any, inspired its creation. At the same time, he notes in Wat Phai Rong Wua the unexpected effects of the gradual advance of capitalism into the far reaches of rural Asia.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Both a one-of-a-kind travelogue and a penetrating look at the community that sustains it, <em>The Fate of Rural Hell</em> is sure to intrigue and inspire conversation as much as Wat Phai Rong Wua itself.</p>Anthropology: Cultural and Social AnthropologyHistory: Asian HistorySat, 15 Oct 2016 05:00:00 GMTBenedict Anderson9780857424020Against the Worldhttp://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/A/bo23195406.html
On its publication in German, Against the World was hailed as an immediate classic. “One of the most spectacular debuts of recent decades,” said Kulturspiegel, while Der Spiegel went even farther: “Against the World is the book of books.” Now English-language readers will get their first chance to see what German readers have already learned: this is a big, ambitious, over-the-top masterpiece.
Set in the East Friesia region of Germany in the mid-1970s, Against the World tells the story of Daniel Kuper, the nominal heir to a drugstore dynasty, and his struggle to free himself from the petty suspicions and violence of small-town life. A delicate, secretive boy with too much imagination and too few opportunities, he becomes the target of outrage and fear when strange phenomena convulse the town: snowfall in summer, inexplicable corn circles, a boy dead under the wheels of a train, swastikas crudely daubed on walls. Fingers point, and they single out Kuper. The more he tries to prove his innocence, the more fierce the accusations, until his only option is open war against the village and its inhabitants.
An unforgettable debut, Against the World is an epic account of growing up an outsider, and the pain, violence, and betrayal that accompany exclusion.<p>On its publication in German, <em>Against the World</em> was hailed as an immediate classic. &ldquo;One of the most spectacular debuts of recent decades,&rdquo; said <em>Kulturspiegel</em>, while <em>Der Spiegel</em> went even farther: &ldquo;<em>Against the World</em> is the book of books.&rdquo; Now English-language readers will get their first chance to see what German readers have already learned: this is a big, ambitious, over-the-top masterpiece.<br />
<br />
Set in the East Friesia region of Germany in the mid-1970s, <em>Against the World</em> tells the story of Daniel Kuper, the nominal heir to a drugstore dynasty, and his struggle to free himself from the petty suspicions and violence of small-town life. A delicate, secretive boy with too much imagination and too few opportunities, he becomes the target of outrage and fear when strange phenomena convulse the town: snowfall in summer, inexplicable corn circles, a boy dead under the wheels of a train, swastikas crudely daubed on walls. Fingers point, and they single out Kuper. The more he tries to prove his innocence, the more fierce the accusations, until his only option is open war against the village and its inhabitants.<br />
<br />
An unforgettable debut, <em>Against the World</em> is an epic account of growing up an outsider, and the pain, violence, and betrayal that accompany exclusion.</p>Literature and Literary Criticism: FictionSat, 15 Oct 2016 05:00:00 GMTJan Brandt; Katy Derbyshire9780857423375Why Hasn't Everything Already Disappeared?http://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/W/bo8364962.html
&#8220;Behind every image, something has disappeared. And that is the source of its fascination,&#8221; writes French theorist Jean Baudrillard in Why Hasn&#8217;t Everything Already Disappeared? In this, one of the last texts written before his death in March 2007, Baudrillard meditates poignantly on the question of disappearance. Throughout, he weaves an intricate set of variations on his theme, ranging from the potential disappearance of humanity as a result of the fulfillment of its goal of world mastery to the vanishing of reality due to the continual transmutation of the real into the virtual. Along the way, he takes in the more conventional question of the philosophical &#8220;subject,&#8221; whose disappearance has, in his view, been caused by a &#8220;pulverization of consciousness into all the interstices of reality.&#8221;Interspersed throughout the text are 15 photographs by Alain Willaume that help illustrate Baudrillard&#8217;s argument. Baudrillard insists that with disappearance, strange things happen&#8212;some things that were eliminated or repressed may return in destructive viral forms&#8212;yet at the same time, he reminds us that disappearance has a positive aspect, as a &#8220;vital dimension&#8221; of the existence of things.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;<div><div><p>&#8220;Behind every image, something has disappeared. And that is the source of its fascination,&#8221; writes French theorist Jean Baudrillard in <i>Why Hasn</i>&#8217;<i>t Everything Already Disappeared?</i> In this, one of the last texts written before his death in March 2007, Baudrillard meditates poignantly on the question of disappearance. Throughout, he weaves an intricate set of variations on his theme, ranging from the potential disappearance of humanity as a result of the fulfillment of its goal of world mastery to the vanishing of reality due to the continual transmutation of the real into the virtual. Along the way, he takes in the more conventional question of the philosophical &#8220;subject,&#8221; whose disappearance has, in his view, been caused by a &#8220;pulverization of consciousness into all the interstices of reality.&#8221;</p><p>Interspersed throughout the text are 15 photographs by Alain Willaume that help illustrate Baudrillard&#8217;s argument. Baudrillard insists that with disappearance, strange things happen&#8212;some things that were eliminated or repressed may return in destructive viral forms&#8212;yet at the same time, he reminds us that disappearance has a positive aspect, as a &#8220;vital dimension&#8221; of the existence of things.</p><p>&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; </p></div></div>Art: Art CriticismSat, 15 Oct 2016 05:00:00 GMTJean Baudrillard; Alain Willaume; Chris Turner978085742401330 April 1945http://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/Other/bo22176224.html
April 30, 1945, marked an end of sorts in the Third Reich. The last business day before a national holiday and then a series of transfers of power, April 30 was a day filled with contradictions and bewildering events that would forever define global history. It was on this day that while the Red Army occupied Berlin, Hitler committed suicide in his underground bunker, and, in San Francisco, the United Nations was being founded. Alexander Kluge’s latest book, 30 April 1945, covers this single historic day and unravels its passing hours across the different theaters of the Second World War. Translated by Wieland Hoban, the book delves into the events happening around the world on one fateful day, including the life of a small German town occupied by American forces and the story of two SS officers stranded on the forsaken Kerguelen Islands in the South Indian Sea. Kluge is a master storyteller, and as he unfolds these disparate tales, one unavoidable question surfaces: What is the appropriate reaction to the total upheaval of the status quo? Presented here with an afterword by Reinhard Jirgl, translated by Iain Galbraith, 30 April 1945 is a riveting collection of lives turned upside down by the deadliest war in history. The collective experiences Kluge paints here are jarring, poignant, and imbued with meaning. Seventy years later, we can still see our own reflections in the upheaval of a single day in 1945.Praise for Kluge “More than a few of Kluge’s many books are essential, brilliant achievements. None are without great interest.”—Susan Sontag<div><div>April 30, 1945, marked an end of sorts in the Third Reich. The last business day before a national holiday and then a series of transfers of power, April 30 was a day filled with contradictions and bewildering events that would forever define global history. It was on this day that while the Red Army occupied Berlin, Hitler committed suicide in his underground bunker, and, in San Francisco, the United Nations was being founded.<br /><br /> Alexander Kluge&rsquo;s latest book, <i>30 April 1945</i>, covers this single historic day and unravels its passing hours across the different theaters of the Second World War. Translated by Wieland Hoban, the book delves into the events happening around the world on one fateful day, including the life of a small German town occupied by American forces and the story of two SS officers stranded on the forsaken Kerguelen Islands in the South Indian Sea. Kluge is a master storyteller, and as he unfolds these disparate tales, one unavoidable question surfaces: What is the appropriate reaction to the total upheaval of the status quo?<br /><br /> Presented here with an afterword by Reinhard Jirgl, translated by Iain Galbraith, <i>30 April 1945</i> is a riveting collection of lives turned upside down by the deadliest war in history. The collective experiences Kluge paints here are jarring, poignant, and imbued with meaning. Seventy years later, we can still see our own reflections in the upheaval of a single day in 1945.<br /><br /><i>Praise for Kluge</i><br /> &ldquo;More than a few of Kluge&rsquo;s many books are essential, brilliant achievements. None are without great interest.&rdquo;&mdash;Susan Sontag</div></div>Literature and Literary Criticism: FictionSat, 15 Oct 2016 05:00:00 GMTAlexander Kluge; Reinhard Jirgl; Wieland Hoban9780857423993Conversations, Volume 1http://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/C/bo18089737.html
Buddhism, love, Henry James, and the tango are just a few of the topics Jorge Luis Borges, Argentina’s master writer, and extraordinary conversationalist, discusses in the first volume of the remarkable new series,&#160;Conversations.&#160;The eighty-four-year-old blind man’s wit is unending and results in lively and insightful discussions that configure a loose autobiography of a subtle, teasing mind. Borges’s favorite concepts, such as time and dreaming, are touched upon, but these dialogues are not a true memoir, they are unrestricted conversations about life at present.&#160; The Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator, contributed immensely to twentieth-century literature, and more specifically to the genres of magical realism and fantasy. As he progressively lost his sight—he became completely blind by the age of fifty-five—the darkness behind his eyelids held enchanting imagery that translated into rich symbolism in his work.&#160; The inner workings of his curious mind are seen vividly in his conversations with Ferrari, and there’s not a subject on which he doesn’t cast surprising new light. As in his tale “The Other,” where two Borgeses meet up on a bench beside the River Charles, this is a dialogue between a young poet and the elder teller of tales where all experience floats in a miracle that defies linear time.<div>Buddhism, love, Henry James, and the tango are just a few of the topics Jorge Luis Borges, Argentina&rsquo;s master writer, and extraordinary conversationalist, discusses in the first volume of the remarkable new series,&#160;<i>Conversations.</i>&#160;The eighty-four-year-old blind man&rsquo;s wit is unending and results in lively and insightful discussions that configure a loose autobiography of a subtle, teasing mind. Borges&rsquo;s favorite concepts, such as time and dreaming, are touched upon, but these dialogues are not a true memoir, they are unrestricted conversations about life at present.&#160;<br /><br /> The Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator, contributed immensely to twentieth-century literature, and more specifically to the genres of magical realism and fantasy. As he progressively lost his sight&mdash;he became completely blind by the age of fifty-five&mdash;the darkness behind his eyelids held enchanting imagery that translated into rich symbolism in his work.&#160; The inner workings of his curious mind are seen vividly in his conversations with Ferrari, and there&rsquo;s not a subject on which he doesn&rsquo;t cast surprising new light. As in his tale &ldquo;The Other,&rdquo; where two Borgeses meet up on a bench beside the River Charles, this is a dialogue between a young poet and the elder teller of tales where all experience floats in a miracle that defies linear time.</div>Literature and Literary Criticism: General Criticism and Critical TheorySat, 15 Oct 2016 05:00:00 GMTJorge Luis Borges; Osvaldo Ferrari; Jason Wilson9780857423986Notebooks, Volume 1, 1998-99http://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/N/bo22177372.html
“For a long time, it was not clear if I would become a writer or an artist,” says Anselm Kiefer, whose paintings and sculptures have made him one of the most significant and influential artists of our time. Since he was awarded the Peace Prize by the German Book Trade in 2008, his essays, speeches, and lectures have gradually received more attention, but until now his diary accounts have been almost completely unknown. The power in Kiefer’s images, however, is rivaled by his writings on nature and history, literature and antiquity, and mysticism and mythology. The first volume of Notebooks spans the years 1998-1999 and traces the origins and creative process of Kiefer’s visual works during this period. In this volume, Kiefer returns constantly to his touchstones: sixteenth-century alchemist Robert Fludd, German romantic poet Novalis, Martin Heidegger, Ingeborg Bachmann, Robert Musil, and many other writers and thinkers. The entries reveal the process by which his artworks are informed by his reading—and vice versa—and track the development of the works he created in the late 1990s. Translated into English for the first time by Tess Lewis, the diaries reveal Kiefer’s strong affinity for language and let readers witness the process of thoughts, experiences, and adventures slowly transcending the limits of art, achieving meaning in and beyond their medium. &#160;Praise for Kiefer &#160;“His works recall, in this sense, the grand tradition of history painting, with its notion about the elevated role of art in society, except that they do not presume moral certainty. What makes Kiefer’s work so convincing . . . is precisely its ambiguity and self-doubt, its rejection of easy solutions, historical amnesia, and transcendence.”—New York Times “Wordiness for Kiefer is painterliness. The library and the gallery, the book and the frame inseparable, even interchangeable, in his monumental archive of human memory. Not since Picasso’s Guernica have pictures demanded so urgently that we studiously reflect and recollect in their presence.”—Simon Schama<div>&ldquo;For a long time, it was not clear if I would become a writer or an artist,&rdquo; says Anselm Kiefer, whose paintings and sculptures have made him one of the most significant and influential artists of our time. Since he was awarded the Peace Prize by the German Book Trade in 2008, his essays, speeches, and lectures have gradually received more attention, but until now his diary accounts have been almost completely unknown. The power in Kiefer&rsquo;s images, however, is rivaled by his writings on nature and history, literature and antiquity, and mysticism and mythology.<br /><br /> The first volume of <i>Notebooks</i> spans the years 1998-1999 and traces the origins and creative process of Kiefer&rsquo;s visual works during this period. In this volume, Kiefer returns constantly to his touchstones: sixteenth-century alchemist Robert Fludd, German romantic poet Novalis, Martin Heidegger, Ingeborg Bachmann, Robert Musil, and many other writers and thinkers. The entries reveal the process by which his artworks are informed by his reading&mdash;and vice versa&mdash;and track the development of the works he created in the late 1990s. Translated into English for the first time by Tess Lewis, the diaries reveal Kiefer&rsquo;s strong affinity for language and let readers witness the process of thoughts, experiences, and adventures slowly transcending the limits of art, achieving meaning in and beyond their medium.<br /> &#160;<br /><i>Praise for Kiefer</i><br /><br /> &#160;&ldquo;His works recall, in this sense, the grand tradition of history painting, with its notion about the elevated role of art in society, except that they do not presume moral certainty. What makes Kiefer&rsquo;s work so convincing . . . is precisely its ambiguity and self-doubt, its rejection of easy solutions, historical amnesia, and transcendence.&rdquo;&mdash;<i>New York Times</i><br /><br /> &ldquo;Wordiness for Kiefer is painterliness. The library and the gallery, the book and the frame inseparable, even interchangeable, in his monumental archive of human memory. Not since Picasso&rsquo;s <i>Guernica </i>have pictures demanded so urgently that we studiously reflect and recollect in their presence.&rdquo;&mdash;Simon Schama</div>Art: Art--General StudiesSat, 15 Oct 2016 05:00:00 GMTAnselm Kiefer; Tess Lewis9780857424006Spirits of the Earthhttp://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/S/bo25010675.html
Swiss novelist Catherine Colomb is known as one of the most unusual and inventive francophone novelists of the twentieth century. Fascinated by the processes of memory and consciousness, she has been compared to that of Virginia Woolf and Marcel Proust. The Spirits of the Earth is the first English translation of Colomb’s work and its arrival will introduce new readers to an iconic novel.
The Spirits of the Earth is at heart a family drama, set at the Fraidaigue ch&acirc;teau, along the shores of Lake Geneva, and in the Maison d’en Haut country mansion, located in the hills above the lake. In these luxe locales, readers encounter upper-class characters with faltering incomes, parvenues, and even ghosts. Throughout, Colomb builds a psychologically penetrating and bold story in which the living and the dead intermingle and in which time itself is a mystery.<p>Swiss novelist Catherine Colomb is known as one of the most unusual and inventive francophone novelists of the twentieth century. Fascinated by the processes of memory and consciousness, she has been compared to that of Virginia Woolf and Marcel Proust. <em>The Spirits of the Earth</em> is the first English translation of Colomb&rsquo;s work and its arrival will introduce new readers to an iconic novel.<br />
<br />
<em>The Spirits of the Earth </em>is at heart a family drama, set at the Fraidaigue ch&acirc;teau, along the shores of Lake Geneva, and in the Maison d&rsquo;en Haut country mansion, located in the hills above the lake. In these luxe locales, readers encounter upper-class characters with faltering incomes, parvenues, and even ghosts. Throughout, Colomb builds a psychologically penetrating and bold story in which the living and the dead intermingle and in which time itself is a mystery.</p>Literature and Literary Criticism: FictionThu, 15 Sep 2016 05:00:00 GMTCatherine Colomb; John Taylor9780857423726Cage in Search of a Birdhttp://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/C/bo25015338.html
Laura Wilmote is a television journalist living in Paris. Her life couldn’t be better—a stimulating job, a loving boyfriend, interesting friends—until her phone rings in the middle of one night. It is C., an old school friend whom Laura recently helped find a job at the same television station: “My phone rang. I knew right away it was you.” Thus begins the story of C.’s unrelenting, obsessive, incurable love/hatred of Laura. She is convinced that Laura shares her love, but cannot—or will not—admit it. C. begins to dress as Laura, to make her friends and family her own, and even succeeds in working alongside Laura on the unique program that is Laura’s signature achievement. The obsession escalates, yet is artfully hidden. It is Laura who is perceived as the aggressor at work, Laura who appears unwell, Laura who is losing it. Even Laura’s adoring boyfriend begins to question her. Laura seeks the counsel of a psychiatrist who diagnoses C. with De Cl&eacute;rambault syndrome—she is convinced that Laura is in love with her. And worse, the syndrome can only end in one of two ways: the death of the patient, or that of the object of the obsession.A Cage in Search of a Bird is the gripping story of two women caught in the vise of a terrible delusion. Florence Noiville brilliantly narrates this story of obsession and one woman’s attempts to escape the irrational love of another—an inescapable, never-ending love, a love that can only end badly.<div>Laura Wilmote is a television journalist living in Paris. Her life couldn&rsquo;t be better&mdash;a stimulating job, a loving boyfriend, interesting friends&mdash;until her phone rings in the middle of one night. It is C., an old school friend whom Laura recently helped find a job at the same television station: &ldquo;My phone rang. I knew right away it was you.&rdquo;<br /><br /> Thus begins the story of C.&rsquo;s unrelenting, obsessive, incurable love/hatred of Laura. She is convinced that Laura shares her love, but cannot&mdash;or will not&mdash;admit it. C. begins to dress as Laura, to make her friends and family her own, and even succeeds in working alongside Laura on the unique program that is Laura&rsquo;s signature achievement. The obsession escalates, yet is artfully hidden. It is Laura who is perceived as the aggressor at work, Laura who appears unwell, Laura who is losing it. Even Laura&rsquo;s adoring boyfriend begins to question her. Laura seeks the counsel of a psychiatrist who diagnoses C. with De Cl&eacute;rambault syndrome&mdash;she is convinced that Laura is in love with her. And worse, the syndrome can only end in one of two ways: the death of the patient, or that of the object of the obsession.<br /><br /><i>A Cage in Search of a Bird</i> is the gripping story of two women caught in the vise of a terrible delusion. Florence Noiville brilliantly narrates this story of obsession and one woman&rsquo;s attempts to escape the irrational love of another&mdash;an inescapable, never-ending love, a love that can only end badly.</div>Literature and Literary Criticism: FictionThu, 15 Sep 2016 05:00:00 GMTFlorence Noiville; Teresa Lavender Fagan9780857423757